The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved California’s plan to phase out and ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035. ABC News reported that the EPA has given California the necessary waiver to enact the Advanced Clean Car II regulation (ACC II), which was conceived and approved by the California Air Resources Board in 2022.
The EPA also approved California’s plan to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy vehicles to reduce the amount of smog in the atmosphere. The state calls for a 75 percent reduction in NOx pollution to begin with, followed by a 90 percent reduction in the next few years.
ACC II provides a year-by-year blueprint for phasing out sales of internal combustion engine vehicles. The plan sets a deadline for 35% of the state’s vehicle sales to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell powered models by 2026. The electric vehicle sales standard will then rise to 68 percent by 2030, reaching the final 100 percent sales requirement by 2035. Consumers and merchants will continue to be able to buy, sell, and drive used ICE and hybrid cards until ACC II. California Air Resources Board Chair Leanne Randolph estimated that ACC II could reduce pollution by 50 percent by 2040.
California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the decision and ACC II in a statement as proof that “California can rise to the challenge of protecting our people by cleaning our air and reducing pollution.”
